Today in Supreme Court History: September 5, 1922

9/5/1922: Justice George Sutherland takes the oath.

Justice George Sutherland

Comments

[JoeFromtheBronx]

Justice Sutherland is an interesting character, especially in the current environment. He was not a stereotype.

His opinion in Adkins v. Children's Hospital rejected a protectionist law partially by citing the 19th Amendment, which he supported, to declare the growing equal position of women.

Euclid v. Amber Realty upheld a zoning law by noting that constitutional principles must be applied by looking at modern facts. To quote the headnotes:

While the meaning of constitutional guarantees never varies, the scope of their application must expand or contract to meet the new and different conditions which are constantly coming within the field of their operation.

He wrote an opinion defending the rights of the Scottsboro Boys and the press. Meanwhile, he was one of the "four horsemen," who opposed various New Deal legislation.

He also wrote Humphrey's Executor v. United States.

One review of a modern examination of his jurisprudence alleged:

[The author] argues that the modern Court has forgotten what Sutherland understood—namely, that “the formula of the Commerce Clause was a formula for the limiting of federal power; it was never offered as an econometric model for the flow of transactions in a modern economy.

Hamilton is on the phone. He begs to differ. You got to believe him. He uses a lot of words. Or he sings. It varies.

https://www.independent.org/tir/1996-97-winter/the-return-of-george-sutherland/

Either way, Justice Sutherland is a good figure to think about these days.